Florida's Team: Big But Weak

Vote '92: The nation

The State Will Send The Nation's 4th Largest Delegation To Capitol Hill, But Its Lawmakers Are New And Lack Influence.

November 5, 1992|By Anne Groer, Sentinel Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Florida faces a clout drought on Capitol Hill.

In fact, the rosiest forecast for the 25-member House and Senate delegation next January may be no better than partly sunny and partly cloudy, Florida lawmakers say.

On the positive side, the delegation's sheer size - it ranks fourth behind California, Texas and New York - makes it formidable if members move in lockstep on specific issues.

Moreover, its diversity reflects the state's population and interests as never before: Five women, three blacks, two Cuban-Americans and 15 white males, two of whom are U.S. senators.

That means Florida lawmakers can form alliances with colleagues in special caucuses for blacks, women and Hispanics, opportunities which did not exist when the delegation was all white and all male.

But there also is a negative side.

Ten of Florida's 23 House members are freshmen, and relatively few senior lawmakers are returning to Washington. This means they will chair just a few subcommittees and no full committees.

And just about the time this year's novices have accumulated some real influence and expertise after 10 or 12 years in office, Florida's term limit law will force their retirement.

Sen. Bob Graham likens the new delegation to a high school football team whose best players have graduated and whose underclassmen must carry the burden.

''We're in a position of rebuilding this year,'' said Graham, noting that ''to some degree, other states are going to feel the same as we do, but in Florida our losses are going to be more extreme.''

Since 1988, the retirement or death of such heavyweights as Sen. Lawton Chiles and Reps. Claude Pepper, Dante Fascell, Don Fuqua and Bill Lehman cost Florida several chairmanships: the Senate budget, House rules, foreign affairs and science and technology committees and an appropriations subcommittee.

The most senior Florida lawmaker is 15-term Rep. Sam Gibbons, D-Tampa, who heads the Ways and Means trade subcommittee.

Norman Ornstein, an expert on Congress at the nonpartisan American Enterprise Institute, agrees with Graham that Florida will not suffer alone.

''Florida is in the same boat as everybody else'' because more than 100 of 435 House members will be newcomers, meaning the 318 returnees can climb the seniority ladder more quickly or shift to more desirable committees, Ornstein said. ''The people who have been around have more opportunities to move up. And there are opportunities for new people coming in to get on good committees.''

Before the election, for example, seven-term Rep. Earl Hutto, D-Panama City, ranked eighth of 33 Democrats on the Armed Services Committee and chaired its readiness subcommittee.

Today, Hutto is fifth in seniority, and all three members who outranked him chaired subcommittees that he might want instead of his own.

The game of committee musical chairs can be harrowing for freshmen who often have no chance of gaining a coveted slot on Appropriations, Ways and Means or Energy and Commerce. Those panels oversee spending, taxes, Social Security and health care.

But this year, Florida lawmakers could benefit from their diversity. House Democratic leaders may be eager to help black first-termers such as former state Sen. Carrie Meek of Miami and former state Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville.

Less likely to get what he seeks is Alcee Hastings of Miami, Florida's first black U.S. District Court judge who was removed from the bench after his 1989 Senate impeachment for alleged bribery.

Hastings wants a spot on the same House judiciary committee that drew up the impeachment articles. Hastings spokesman Jack Curtiss said the request is ''natural, though quite ironic. That would be delicious.''